


city of lights, city of heroes

by AlexSeanchai (EllieMurasaki)



Category: Miraculous Ladybug
Genre: Adrien Agreste | Chat Noir Identity Reveal, Alternate Universe - Canon Divergence, Episode: s02 Mayura (Heroes' Day Part 2), Gen, Podfic Welcome
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2019-05-17
Updated: 2019-05-17
Packaged: 2020-03-06 14:43:40
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 901
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/18853165
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/EllieMurasaki/pseuds/AlexSeanchai
Summary: [Transcript: Video submission to the Ladyblog. Timestamps indicate it was filmed the evening of Heroes' Day, only hours after Hawkmoth fled the Eiffel Tower.]She is tossed by the waves, but does not sink.Paris may be down one hero, and most likely up one terrifying villain. But they will not let that sink her.





	city of lights, city of heroes

**Author's Note:**

> I wrote this before "Papa-Garou" aired, planning for it to be the first segment in an AU S3, if that seemed a good idea later in S3. Well, it's later in S3, and this seems to hold up as a standalone.

_Rena Rouge, offscreen:_

—has a submission form with an anon option, you know that, right? And I know you know she's gonna _flip_ over _this_ scoop—oh, hey, I'm already filming, good to know. Aaaand _action_!

_Ladybug:_

City of Paris, today was Hawkmoth's biggest attack to date—

_Carapace, offscreen:_

Uh, remember the time he drowned the city?

_Ladybug:_

—that was a one-akuma problem, Carapace, shush. Anyway, the City of Lights does not drown, that's blasphemy.

Paris, we did not know he could send out more than one akuma at once. Today we faced dozens. And _you_ , Paris—you rose to the challenge. You kept each other calm so he could not use you. You stayed focused so he could not outfight you. You acted together so he could not overwhelm us or you. And you defended each other so he could not _defeat_ you.

Today, Paris, you are _our_ heroes.

We fought Hawkmoth face to face on the Eiffel Tower. Me, and Rena Rouge, and Carapace, and Queen Bee…and Chat Noir. Chat is going to tell you what happened.

_Adrien Agreste:_

You probably recognize me just as fast without my mask as with it. I am Chat Noir. I answer to Adrien Agreste. I'm telling you this now, when we have been so careful for so long not to let anyone know who any of us are, because today Hawkmoth took my Miraculous. He knows who I am, so there is nothing more to gain from keeping my identity a secret from you—and as every single person in my homeroom class knows from personal experience, there could be a lot to lose.

But you know, we took something from Hawkmoth today, too. _We know who he is._

I do not know how I could begin to prove this to anyone's satisfaction but my own. But on the tower, it was him and Ladybug and me, and he had us _down_. He grabbed me by the neck, and he's taller than me with a longer reach and _he_ wasn't exhausting himself chasing akumas all afternoon, or at four this morning after not sleeping since the Sandboy attack—

He grabbed my neck. I think he was trying to kill me by strangulation, and I think he _would_ have killed me…except when he got my ring off, he saw my face. And then he dropped me, and he said if I had any loyalty to my mother I would be on _his_ side, and he told me something else, something specific that no one but my father could possibly know.

_Ladybug, offscreen, fake coughing:_

Cheese bill!

_Adrien Agreste:_

—you hush, Bug, you're no better. Anyway.

Hawkmoth's name—Hawkmoth's name is Gabriel Agreste. My father.

Paris, Ladybug needs your help. Now you know the name and face of the man who has been terrorizing our city for the past two years. I don't know what to do with that. But I know you do.

And you know what he wants. He demands the same thing every akuma—he wants Ladybug's Miraculous and mine.

—Well. Just hers, now.

I do not want to know what he plans to do when he has both of them, though given what he said about my late mother, I think I can guess. But considering his methods, I cannot believe what he wants could be anything good, and I do not want to find out what price our city would pay. And there is only so much I can do to help my partner without my claws.

You will be seeing a lot more of Rena Rouge, Carapace, and Queen Bee backing Ladybug up from here on out. But if you see someone wielding the Black Cat Miraculous, and the Ladyblog hasn't confirmed it's me, then contact the Ladyblog and _run_. Mlle. Césaire and her fellow admins will be keeping track of all submissions—or else she'll edit this out before posting; sorry to voluntell you, Alya—and Ladybug's team will be paying close attention to the Ladyblog.

If you see Ladybug out and about, Paris? If she needs any help at all? Especially if it looks like someone's about to steal her Miraculous from her? _Help her_.

I won't tell you who she is under the mask, because that means she could be anyone. She could be the girl working the convenience store register, or the boy bussing your table at the restaurant. The nurse with too many patients, or the busker with an empty hat, or the little sister you torment, or the woman whose grandchildren don't come visit her anymore.

So, Paris, if you see someone who looks like they could use a helping hand, or a listening ear, or a shoulder to cry on, _help them_. If you feel the impulse to hurt someone else, or to hurt yourself, smile at them instead. And if you find you have hurt someone, make it right with them—or leave them in peace, as they prefer. You might be keeping that person safe from ugly purple butterflies, and sparing Ladybug and our friends an exhausting battle. And you might just be helping Ladybug personally—you never know.

Stay calm, Paris. Stay focused. Work together. Defend each other. Keep each other afloat. And _stay courageous_.

Paris is _our_ city. _Your_ city. The City of Lights is the City of _Heroes_. And every day is Heroes' Day.

**Author's Note:**

> Since people are expressing interest in what happens next: my AO3 profile has said for years that people are allowed and welcome to fanwork my fanworks, I'd just like to know about it when people do. Which is to say, if you want to know what happens next, you have my preemptive blessing to write it yourself! Just, you know, link me so I can make heart eyes at you?
> 
> Find me on [Dreamwidth](https://alexseanchai.dreamwidth.org/) and [Tumblr](http://alexseanchai.tumblr.com/).

**Works inspired by this one:**

  * [Cat Crossed](https://archiveofourown.org/works/19825234) by [Kaiken](https://archiveofourown.org/users/Kaiken/pseuds/Kaiken)




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